


A Busy Brush Halloween

by Foxtrotbeastbot, hyenafur



Series: Cop and Baker [21]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Borrowed characters from Hyenafur, Costumes, Fluff, Halloween fic!, Mentions of sexy costumes and booze, Other, Party, mentions of coming out and Homosexual activity.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27346279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxtrotbeastbot/pseuds/Foxtrotbeastbot, https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyenafur/pseuds/hyenafur
Summary: A bit of Halloween fun with our favorite family. Co-written with Hyenafur in just over 24 hours!
Relationships: Benjamin Clawhauser/Original Character(s), Felicity/Bogo
Series: Cop and Baker [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/451723
Kudos: 4





	A Busy Brush Halloween

Halloween had finally hit the City of Zootopia, and no one was more excited for it than Mrs. Rowan’s kindergarten class. Every pup, calf, foal and kit was decked out in costumes ranging from the typical Fairy Tale Princess and Superhero, to obscure costumes that suited the very specific whims of the children wearing them. The classroom itself had been decorated for the holiday with streamers and balloons of black and orange, with spooky skeletons hanging from the ceiling and various creepy things hidden around the room. A party atmosphere had settled over the children, helped along by the lack of lessons and the abundance of treats; Cupcakes, candies, candy apples, cookies and more pumpkin tarts than you could shake a stick at!

“Who’re you dressed as Mrs. Rowan?” Asked Melissa, a young Piglet in an egyptian queen costume.

Marian smiled warmly down at Melissa as she adjusted the light and dark green dress with gold accents along the neck and sleeves. “Queen Elinor, dearie,” she answered in her usual warm, motherly voice before turning her attention to the kits, pups, foals, and cubs still assembling into the room. Even though the character had been portrayed by a bear in the film, the badger easily pulled off the look, partly because of her build and the slowly growing bump in her middle. Marian had considered going as Constance again or even as Lady Kluck or Maid Marian, but she wasn’t sure if any of the children would remember the reference.

“Oooooh! Then you match with Ellie! Looky!”

The piglet pointed to the young gazelle currently being led in by her mother, dressed in a deep green- blue dress and clutching a toy bow. She caught sight of Marian and beamed, waving eagerly while Felicity (dressed in a poodle skirt, Cardigan and ascot) helped her out of her coat and backpack.

“Looks like you and your teacher both liked that movie Ellie. Now go mingle while I see her about the treats.” the vixen smiled, planting a kiss between her daughter’s horns. As the girl raced off, Felicity made her way through the throngs of children to Marian, clutching a large container. “Happy Halloween Marian. I brought the Apple tarts, as requested. Love your dress, where did you manage to find something so well made?”

Marian blushed deeply, softly chuckling to herself as she smiled down at the enthusiastic doe. “Oh, I know a wonderful tailor who made it for me,” the badger said as a hand reached down to gently take the container. She would probably need to tell Robin that he’d need to change his costume before he came to pick her up. 

“It would appear that we have coordinated with one another,” Marian added, a giggle permeating her voice. “I was not expecting anyone to come dressed as Merida today.”

“Well, ever since meeting Hornz at the Game, Ellie’s been a little...Highlands Crazy. She wants to know anything and everything about them and when she saw that movie on Nisdey+?” Felicity shrugged, having long since given up trying to control her children’s whims. “She loved Merida. Thank goodness my Mama was able to spare some room on her sewing machine to make her dress; I couldn’t find a costume for sale anywhere. Oof!” A rambunctious little hyena boy had run into her leg at full tilt, nearly knocking her off her paws only for a strong hand to take hold of her arm at the last minute.

“Are you all rraight, Mizz,” an accented voice said from behind the vixen. As she recovered, Felicity slowly turned her head to see the largest male hyena she’d ever laid eyes on, even though his attention was turned to the pup. “Toonoo. Vhat did your mutter and I tell you about running into udders?”

The camouflaged pup lowered his ears as he looked at his father who was similarly dressed, then over to Felicity. “I’m sorry.”

“Dank you,” the muscular blonde, black, and white hyena said as he nodded his head before looking at the poodle skirted fox. “I am sorry about dat. Toonoo and his sisder can get very ekzited at Hallveen.”

Felicity held up a placating paw. “Aw, it’s okay. I’m not hurt, and I know how hyper the kids can get.” She smiled down at Tunu, resisting the urge to ruffle his ears. “You just try to watch out okay? Some folks can’t tank a hit like I can.” she knocked her wooden leg playfully before turning to the big male. “You must be Jazz’s Dad, yeah? My older boy is on her Boxing team and he mentioned she had family in this class.”

The big, khanki uniformed hyena chuckled, opening his mouth to say something when Tunu jumped into the conversation, eyes looking from Felicity’s false leg and over to one of his father’s legs. “She’s got a leg like you, daddy.”

“She does,” he replied, forgetting the previous conversation to reach down and take his dress shoe off. “False foot.”

Felicity blinked in surprise. Meeting other amputees was a rarity in Zootopia and her tail was wagging before she could stop it.

“Going by your outfit, I’d guess….combat damage? Or is that just a costume?”

The hyena smiled. “Shrapnel. Just happent to be in de vrong plaze at de vrong time,” he said before slipping his boot back on. “But to anzer your kvestion. I’m Yazz’s uncle, but she’s told me about Danny.” Felicity beamed. 

“She’s such a sweetheart. She’s been helping Danny out a lot ever since his accident, and she’s even babysat Ellie and her brother for me once or twice-” a sharp beeping cut her off, causing the vixen’s ears to twitch as she dug her phone from her purse. “Uh oh, I gotta go. My assistant back at the Bakery is getting swamped. It was Great to meet you Mr….?”

“Tüpfel,” the hyena said with a smile, “Oberleu… er… Leutnant Karl Tüpfel.” He chuckled, “I forget to uze de Kinglish terms sometimes.”

“Felicity Brush.” The vixen nodded, smiling back. “A pleasure to meet you Lieutenant. I’d stay and chat more, but-” she held up her now vibrating phone, the screen full of urgent and panicky messages from Tulio. “Duty calls. Ellie, Mommy’s leaving now sweetie. Be good for Mrs. Rowan.”

“Okay Mommy!” Ellie called, bounding over to Tunu and tugging his hand gently. “Tunu, Me and Melissa are gonna color, wanna do it with us? Hi Mr. Tunu’s Uncle!”

“Hallo,” Karl replied with a small chuckle, one hand reaching out to tussle the fur atop Tunu’s head. “I’ll pick you up at lunch. Okay?”

“Okay daddy,” the pup smiled back before turning his attention over to Ellie. “Sure,” he said, giving Ellie’s hand a squeeze. “Did you see all his ribbons?”

The gazelle tilted her head. She didn’t see him wearing any ribbons in his hair. “No,” Ellie replied back in a voice that was a mix of both answer and confused question.

“All those colored things on his chest,” Tunu giggled. “Daddy says they’re called ribbons. They say what he’s done.”

“Ooooooooh.” Ellie was still a little confused, but she did remember Chief Bogo wearing something like that on his uniform. “My daddy has those too, but his are a lot smaller. Where’s yours?” she peered at his costume curiously, her little ears perking up. His chest was devoid of ribbons and medals.

“I don’t have any. You only get ribbons for doing brave stuff like saving people in war and hitting different ranks.” This rankled Ellie. Tunu was one of her very best friends. He deserved some decorations on his uniform.

“Well….Let's make you one! Yeah! I saw some ribbons and foil in the Craft Cubby. We can make it by ourselves and you can have it for...for, um….” Inspiration hit and she brightened up. “Being really Nice to everyone in class, even Jake Turner.” Their eyes turned to the other side of the room, where a large puma cub was shoving his way towards the candy apples, only to be scolded by Marian. Tunu nodded firmly. It took a lot of bravery and honor to be nice to that cat, even when he wasn’t nice to them.

“Let's do it. And you’re a Princess, so you can award it. You gotta be higher rank to give out medals and ribbons.” Paw in paw, the two set off for the Craft Cubby, making sure to put on smocks to protect their costumes.

In the higher grades of the School, Danny was in the middle of Biology class, sitting next to Jazz.

“Hey Jazz,” he whispered as a tall Brown Hyena walked to the board. “How Ironic is it that it’s halloween and your Uncle is Mr. Spook?”

“Like we’ve never heard that joke before.” Jazz whispered back, a giggle hissing through her teeth.

“All rraight everiwon. Did you rrememberr to bring your dessection permission sleeps,” the brown hyena asked as he looked around the room, giving Danny and Jazz a quick glance.

The class grumbled as stools squeaked on the linoleum floor and the sound of zippers filled the air. Danny snorted. Deep down, he was glad he had remembered to get the slip signed last night, but the hyena next to him didn’t move at all.

“Did you forget, Jazz?” The rhino whispered as he looked over at her.

“I gave it to him before first period,” she grumbled. “Besides, Aunt Sara already told me what he’s planning. For someone nicknamed Spook, he’s terrible at keeping secrets.”

“Uhm… how did he get that nickname,” Danny asked, but before Jazz could reply, her uncle appeared before them and picked the rhino’s permission slip off the desk. “Because I’m as quiet as a spook, Danni.”

“That’s not why you’re called Spook, Uncle Karl,” Jazz huffed, though Danny looked slightly confused as the chuckling brown hyena moved on.

“You have two Uncle Karls?” The rhino asked, “Doesn’t that… ya know… get confusing around birthdays?”

The spotted hyena shook her head. “It doesn’t. He’s been Uncle Spook since… I dunno… since before Maddy and I were born.”

“Yeah, but why do you call him Uncle Spook? I mean… yeah… he’s quiet,” Danny whispered as his attention turned to her uncle. “Like… freakishly quiet.”

“Yeah,” Jazz grumbled, her mouth about to open to give an explanation before when Uncle/Mr. Spook started talking.

“All raight stewdents. I know you’rre all looking forward to this dessection,” the glasses wearing hyena said as he straighted out the permission slips, ignoring the groan that slowly rippled through the class. “And since it’s Halloween, I thought we could make it a bit of fun, yeah?”

Danny perked an ear as Jazz groaned only to let out a long sigh. “Here it comes.”

Their teacher headed over to a large metal cabinet, only to turn around with… a pumpkin.

Danny slowly looked over at Jazz who was attempting to hide her face in her paws.

“We’re dissecting pumpkins,” a lion in the back of the room asked, deciding to voice what everyone else was thinking.

The zebra behind Jazz and Danny let out a long, heavy sigh of relief. “Oh thank god!”

“Awh! I thought we were going to dissect a worm or something,” a honey badger grumbled.

“We’ll heve time for werms later in the semester,” their teacher said, plopping the orange squash down on the table. “There’s one for each table. Go on. Get your pumpkins and dig in.”

Danny looked down at his arm, still held in its sling, with a grumble. Jazz set a paw on his shoulder. 

“Sit tight Danno, I got it.” She grinned as she stood and made her way to the cabinet. While he waited, Danny listened to some of the other students around him.

“So, when Mr. Spook said ‘dissect’, d’ya think he meant ‘carve’?” The zebra asked his partner

“Maybe? We gotta dig out the insides anyway to see what all the goop is made of.” the antelope sighed, picking up a knife. Danny snickered. Of course Mr. Spook would assign them something like this under the guise of dissection. Jazz returned with their pumpkin, plunking it down on their table and picking up their knife. 

“Whatcha think Danny? Go in from the Top or Bottom? Nevermind, don’t answer that.” she smirked as he gently swatted her elbow.

“Cut the wise cracks Giggles. If we cut from the bottom, we’ll maintain the structure better, then it won’t fall in on itself. That's how Momma taught me.”

“Bottoms up, it is. And don’t call me Giggles.”

By halfway through the period, they had not only hollowed out their pumpkin, but also managed to carve a pretty decent likeness of Mr Spook into it.

“Good call on that one Danny. Might net us some extra points.” Jazz whispered as she sketched a diagram of the inner structure of the gourd. Danny grinned, picking out more seeds from the pulp. His nose caught a whiff of something familiar as Mr. Spook called for the Class’s attention.

“Okay class, who can tell me what will heppen to our dessected pumpkins when we add these two ingredients?” In one paw was a small shaker of what looked like brown dust, in the other was a cloudy liquid. Danny raised a hand, recognizing them on sight.

“Lemon Juice and Cinnamon will preserve the pumpkin flesh and keep it from rotting too fast.” he rattled off. 

“Knew you’d get that one, Mr. Brush. Your mother taught you a few tricks. I’m going to pass around enough juice and cinnamon to coat each of your pumpkins and then we’ll get a start on roasting those seeds...After you’ve cleaned them out of the pulp, Mr. Hogket!” 

“But it tastes like Pumpkin Pie...without the pie!” the honey badger mumbled through a mouthful of orange pumpkin guts.

Danny and Jazz shared a look before bursting out laughing. 

"Mr. Hogket, I won't call your deds on this, but you just can't start eating everything we dessect! If we had been dessecting werms, you'd be in hospital by now!"

“Why? Worms are great! We eat them all the time at that Aardwolf restaurant.” The badger said, stuffing another handful of seeds into his mouth.

“Cause they’re preserved in formalin!” Mr. Spook retorted, eyes wide in surprise.

“So… I’ll be preserved?”

“No! If you’re not lucky and get your stomach pumped, you’ll be dead!”

The honey badger blinked as the laughter in the class completely stopped, a big goop of pumpkin guts falling out of his hand and onto the table.

“It was then that Bugs knew,” the Lion in the back said dramatically. “He would never again attempt to eat a dissection subject in Mr. Spooks class.”

A chuckle ran through the class, though the professor didn’t seem amused, even as Bugs started scraping pumpkin guts off his tongue. “Mr. King, I’d like you to see me after class.”

In another part of the city, Martin Bogo was looking over a series of reports, all detailing one odd thing or another; mammals in masks terrifying their neighbors, kids egging houses, or general mischief by rowdy teens. It was the one part of the holiday he generally disliked. Besides that, weird things tended to happen on Halloween.

His musings were broken by a knock at his door. Probably Wilde with another odd report.

"Enter."

It wasn't Wilde. It wasn't even Hopps. It was Clawhauser, dressed in a toga, complete with a laurel wreath on his head. “Hey Chief,” the portly cheetah said, holding onto a stack of manila folders. “These just came in,” Benny added before plopping them down on the buffalo’s desk.

Martin raised an eyebrow. “More vandalism?”

“Yeah, and one or two from the drunk tank. Seems like some people started their Halloween partying early,” the chubby spotted feline said with a small chuckle.

“Speaking of parties, yours is still on for tonight, right,” Bogo asked, hoping that was still the case. It wasn’t like it hadn’t been cancelled in the past, but Martin didn’t have a family for those. It wasn’t as if changing their plans would be too much of a burden, they would still have the house to themselves after all.

“You know it, Chief,” Benny said with a grin. “Dan and I were up all night getting the place looking spook-tacular.”

The buffalo couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle at the terrible pun, and he was sure that wasn’t the only thing the tiger and cheetah had been up to last night. “Well, we’re looking forward to it.” Bogo added before taking one of the case files.

“I think everyone is,” Clawhauser beamed. “We’re going to have a big turn out this year, and I already know what most people are going to be dressed as!”

“Speaking of which… who are you dressed as?” Martin inquired as he looked over a one page in the document.

“Dionysus,” the cheetah answered with a chuckle that made his belly wobble slightly. “The god of wine and parties!”

The water buffalo raised his head. “Isn’t he also a fertility god?”

Benny’s face flushed, his cheeks turning his golden fur a shade of cherry blonde. “Well, he is a harvest god.”

Bogo looked right at Benny, one eyebrow perked. “There isn’t going to be any…”

The cheetah gasped. “Of course not, Chief! This isn’t my bachelorette party!”

The buffalo had a sudden flashback, remembering how awkward and out of place he’d felt... especially when the muscular lion and leopard in the fake police uniforms had shown up only to start dancing and undressing. He’d been to bachelor parties before, so he had some idea of what to expect, but he hadn’t been adequately prepared. But Dan. Benjamin, their friends, and a few of the other officers that had attended had done their best to make him feel a part of the group. 

“I’d hope not,” the bull said, trying to clear the silence. “And,” Martin paused as he lifted two hands up to make air quotes before continuing, “‘Sexy’ costumes?”

Clawhauser pouted and huffed. “I told everyone no sexy costumes, Chief. I mean… at least not this year since you said Danny wanted to come. I mean… a lot of people were disappointed, but I told them that you wanted to bring your son, so everyone understood.”

The buffalo nodded his head. “Thank you, Benjamin.”

The portly cheetah smiled. “No problem Chief. Don’t want Danny’s first real Halloween party to scare him off. Plus they can always come back next year.”

“Next year,” Bogo nodded at the toga clad feline. “But I am curious who Dan will be dressed up as.”

“Oh, he’s going as Aries. We were going to go as Paris and Helen, but they didn’t have any Helen of Troy costumes in my size.” Clawhauser’s face started to crunch up in a pouting expression.

“So you went with the God of Parties,” Martin said with a smile. “I’d say that was a much better choice for the master of ceremonies.”

“I know, right! I almost got Dan to go as Pan, but we couldn’t find an… uhm… appropriate costume,” the chubby cat chuckled as Bogo’s eyebrow cocked again. “Not that I’m complaining. Dan looks uh-mazing as Aries!”

The bull chuckled to himself. “I’m sure he does,” he said, knowing that the muscular tiger could easily fill out a costume like that. Bogo probably could too… especially if he was 20 or 30 years younger.

"So what are you and Felicity dressing up as?" The cheetah pressed. Bogo never dressed up beyond his uniform at the precinct. Every costume party was a surprise.

"You'll see tonight." Bogo said simply, looking over some of the new reports. "If I can get through all this paperwork."

Clawhauser rolled back and forth, moving onto the balls of his feet and pretending to pout, even though it was obvious that he was excited. “I can’t wait! I know you and Felicity are going to have a cute couples costume!”

“Might just beat you and Dan this year.” the bull chuckled. “Now get back to the lobby. I need to get through these reports.”

“Yes sir!”

Back at St. Marian’s, the halloween party in the kindergarten class was winding down, many of the students having tired themselves out from all the games. Mrs. Rowan glanced at the clock on the wall, nodding as she clapped her hands for her pupil’s attention. “All right everyone, it’s time to get ready to go home. Gather your things and get your coats on.”

A chorus of “Yes Ma’am” rippled through the room and a shuffling of fabric and papers was heard as everyone picked up their crafts and treats. Ellie shrugged on her jacket, giggling with Tunu while they waited to be picked up. Tunu left his jacket open to show off the bit of blue and white silk pinned to his chest. There was a disc of silver glued to the end, and a strip of tin foil lining the top. It was a crude resemblance to a proper medal, but the boy still wore it with pride.

They both looked up when the door opened, both their ears pricking forward. But it wasn’t a vixen or a hyena that entered, but a wide set porcupine female in a renaissance style dress, the quills on her head hidden by a coif. Ellie could see beads glittering in the designs as she moved.

“Auntie Sara!” Tunu bounded forward, gingerly hugging the woman while avoiding her quills. “Auntie, look! I got a medal for my uniform! And Ellie’s a princess today, so it’s for real!”

The Crested Porcupine woman smiled as a hand gently brushed over the top of his head. “And it looks wonderful! Just like your father and Uncle Spook have.” Slowly, she looked over at Ellie, giving her a warm smile. “She is! And she makes a beautiful princess.”

Ellie grinned and clasped her hooves in front of her, like Merida had done in the movie. “You make a pretty princess too Miss Sara. Which one are you? I never saw a Nisdey Princess that looked like you do.” She was looking over the fine embroidery of Sara’s costume when Felicity slipped into the room.

“Oh, I’m dressed as Juliette. She’s not a Nisdey Princess… at least not yet,” she said with a smile before noticing Marian. “And it looks like your teacher is dressed up as your mother. Did you two coordinate that?”

“A happy accident.” Felicity piped up at last, setting a paw on Ellie’s shoulder as she stepped forward. “We didn’t know how Mrs. Rowan was dressed until we got here this morning. You must be Tunu’s…” She trailed off uncertainly. The boy didn’t really look like a hybrid, so she couldn’t be his mother. Ellie tugged her skirt.

“He called her Auntie.”

“Ah, his aunt! That makes sense.” Felicity chuckled, smoothing her daughter’s ears. “Well, It was nice to meet you, but we should go. I’ve got my oldest sitting at home with the baby.”

The porcupine smiled. “It’s nice to meet you too,” she said before looking down at Tunu as they made room for the fox and gazelle. “Now, we’ve got to get Jazzy and Uncle Spook their lunches. You know how Aunty Jazzy gets cranky when she doesn’t eat.”

After saying their goodbyes to the class, Felicity and Ellie ventured into the higher grades of the school, where the colorfully painted walls morphed into rows and rows of lockers and posters for pep rallies and science clubs. They had just reached the Math classroom when the bell rang, and a flood of students poured into the halls. Danny was the last one out of class, accompanied by Jazz.

“Ma?” He asked, confused at the sight of them. “What are you two doing up here?”

“We came to get you for lunch.” Felicity shrugged. “Now that your afternoons are free, for the most part.”

“Cool! I still gotta go sign my attendance sheet for Coach, but we can go right after.”

“Hey Danny, check it out, Here comes Kion!” Jazz pointed a thumb over her shoulder at the red haired young lion that was coming their way with his group, looking thoroughly chagrined. Danny waved his good arm at the boy, calling out.

“Hey, Kion! You okay? Did Mr. Spook chew you out after class?” Kion stopped and shook his head.

“Not really. He just told me not to make jokes like I did in science class. You know he actually knew a kid who died eating preserved worms?”

“Well it’s not like you could have known, Kion. And it’s not like Bugs is sick anyway.” sniffed one of Kion’s companions, a slim cheetah girl. Jazz’s fur rippled as she bit down a growl.

“You wouldn’t be saying that if we’d been cutting up worms instead of pumpkins today, Fuli.” she huffed. A large Hippo boy set his arm between them, effectively breaking up the brewing fight. 

“Guys, come on, there’s a little kid here. And Ms. Brush too. You don’t wanna get in a scrap with her standing right there, do you?” Felicity smiled at the young hippo, wiggling her ears in gratitude and stifling a smile when he wiggled his own in return.

“Beshte’s right.” A scrawny Egret squawked from his place on Beshte’s shoulder. “Besides, we need to get to the Cafeteria for Patrol.”

“Yeah.” Kion nodded. “Later Jazz, Danny. Bye Ms. Brush.” As quickly as the little group had come, they were gone.

“Who were they Danny?” Ellie asked, tugging his good hand. Danny smiled and gave her hand a squeeze.

“Just the local Hall Monitors. They formed that little clique of theirs at the beginning of the year. At first it was just Kion and Bugs, but then Fuli, Beshte and Ono joined up. Anyway, forget about it. Come on, Peanut, we gotta get you home. Later Jazz.”

“See ya hornhead.” Jazz smirked, heading off down the hall.

Once they had gotten Danny's attendance sheet signed and they were all piled into the van, Felicity couldn’t help but smile. It seemed Danny had quite the school life.

Several hours later, everyone at the Brush Family Bakery was in costume, even Tulio after he closed up shop. “Are you doing anything fun for Halloween, Tulio?” Danny asked as he emerged downstairs dressed up like his idol; boxing gloves, boxing trunks, and even a robe that said “Mick’s Meat Packing Plant” on the back.

The Panther shook his head. “Nah, boss. Halloween just isn’t my thing. But Dia de los Muertos? Oh yeah. There’s nothing like it. Parties. Street Mariachi. Dancing. Street vendors selling fresh tamales, enfrijoladas, and sopapillas. All the sugar skulls you can eat. And then there’s the hot cocoa or hot horchata de arroz if it’s cold out. And it lasts all night.”

“Wow! That sounds kinda cool! When does that one start?”

“Tomorrow.” Tulio grinned, remembering the days when he was Danny’s age. “My mom and I used to go clean my Abuelita’s grave and leave her tequila. It’s why I pulled a double today, so I could go visit mom and leave her some marigolds. Ah, but enough about me, kid. I hear you’re hitting the Clawhauser Party?” Danny chuckled, rubbing his neck.

“In a couple hours. I promised Elise I’d help wrangle Will and Ellie for T&T. Check this out. Willie!” he turned, looking for the little otter in his pumpkin suit. Felicity handed him over with a smile and Danny held him up to Tulio. “Okay Will, like I taught you; What do you say on Halloween?”

“TickerTeet!” Will squealed, wriggling excitedly. Danny and Ellie had been training him all month to be able to mimic the phrase and this was as close as he could get. Tulio grinned widely, patting him between his two tiny ears. 

“Eyyy, you got it L’il Boss! A face like that is gonna net you soooo much candy.”

“Speaking of candy.” Elise glided downstairs, dressed as Katerina the Great. “We should get going if we want to hit as many houses as possible.”

“You’re sure you’re okay taking the kids, Elise?” Felicity asked as she helped Ellie into her coat. “If you had other things you wanted to do tonight…” Elise held up a paw.

“It is fine Mother. I had no plans and You and Father deserve a night off. After we drop Danny off at the Clawhauser house, I will bring Ellie and Will home and make sure they have supper and a bath before bedtime.”

“Okay then. Martin and I will be home around 10 or 11, I’ll keep my cell on in case of emergencies. Ellie, you can have two pieces of candy tonight after supper, but you save the rest for tomorrow. Love you, babies, have fun!”

“We will Mommy!”

“See you in a bit Momma.”

Bogo helped Felicity into the Bruinly and as they Drove off, Danny and Elise shared a look before turning to their smaller siblings.

“Okay kids, Operation: Candy Route is a go! Let’s move, move, move!” Danny laughed, hustling Ellie into the van while Elise strapped Will into his carseat.

Within half an hour, they had already hit most of the best areas in Savannah Central, moving on to the Tundra Town. Elise was leading them up the icy drive of the Big Mansion when Danny posed a question.

“Hey Elise, do ya think Uncle Vinnie’s even doing treats this year? I thought he’d be off with Fru and Judy.”

“Judy had a cold this year, so he has stayed home. You know his rule; anyone who makes it this far deserves the big candy bars.” Elise smiled as she pressed the doorbell. The door opened, revealing Mr. Big sitting in the paw of his Courier as usual, but dressed as a miniscule Dracula.

“Trick or Treat Uncle Vinnie!” Ellie giggled, holding out her candy sack. Will held out his little pumpkin pail, echoing

“Tickerteet!”

“Ahhh… it is the children of my dearest friend, Felicity,” the shrew said in his typically muffled voice with a smile on his lips. “I am both surprised and overjoyed to see you on such a cold night as this. And you brought young William with you as well.” Mr. Big snapped his fingers, “Kozlov, would you be so kind as to give the children of our dearest friend the BIG candy bars.”

The massive polar bear raised an eyebrow before leaning in to whisper something.

“No no. Not the big candy bars. The BIG candy bars.”

Konstantin Kozlov nodded, shifting the vampiric shrew slightly in his hand as turned just enough to reach into the house, all the while keeping his employer pointed at the Brush kids. “Is your mother with you tonight?”

“Mother and Father are at a party.” Elise explained, clutching the squirming Will. “I offered to bring the little ones out.”

“You are very responsible, my dear,” Mr. Big said as he leaned back in the small chair he always rested in. He was about to say something when Kozlov turned back around, holding candy bars. But not just any candy bars.

Danny’s eyes went wide. “King sized!” Kozlov shared a rare smile and dropped two into each of the candy bags.

“Go three houses left of here, Anna will have good treats.” he rumbled to Elise in Grussian. “Skip the Fourth house. The owner is a dentist, and only gives a toothbrush.”

“Thank you for the tip Kozlov. Tell Uncle Viktor I said hello.” Elise replied in kind, before switching back to Kinglish. “Happy Halloween Uncle Vinnie.” 

“What did he tell you?” Asked Danny as they headed back to the van. 

“Just a tip so we can get more candy.” Elise murmured, dodging an icy patch. “Come, the night is far from over.”

And on they went, treading well worn trick or treating paths that Danny and Jack had mapped out as kids and utilizing the cute appeal of Ellie and Will to fill their candy bags.

“Nobody can resist a four year old like that.” he laughed, jostling his heavy pillowcase of treats. “I don’t think we got more than four apples in the whole haul.”

“A New Record.” Elise grinned as they turned onto the exit back towards Savannah Central “Oh, it is almost nine. You will be late for the party. Do you want me to drop you off?”

“Yeah. Can you toss my loot on my bed?” Danny glanced at Will. “On second thought, throw it in the freezer. Will’s learning to crawl out of his crib at night.”

“Done.” Elise chuckled. As they drove through the neighborhood, Elise could feel the pounding beats of the party music, even in the car. They pulled up outside the Clawhauser house, the silhouettes of various mammals in the windows.

“Well, this is me. See you guys later!” Danny called as he hopped out.

Dan had been the one to open the door after he’d rung the doorbell. The tall, muscular feline in a toga and fake cuirass had flashed him a warm smile before saying, “Come on in! We’re glad you could make it, Danny.”

The party was almost exactly what Danny had expected. Deep down, he figured that a Halloween party for adults would have had more of those sexy costumes that showed off lots of fur or skin, loud noise, and alcohol like he’d seen in movies. Part of him wondered if his dad had anything to do with it, but he pushed that thought aside when he felt Dan pat him on the shoulder. “Your parents are over there,” he said, pointing towards Felicity and Bogo, the two dressed up like Johnny and Olivia from Oil. “But feel free to mingle.”

The rhino nodded his head as he looked around the room. There were a bunch of officers from the precinct here, including Andersen and Fangmeyer who were dressed up like Kings players from different eras. Slowly reaching behind his head, the rhino scratched the base of his scalp before adjusting the boxing robe. 

Danny felt a bit underdressed… a lot underdressed. Gingerly, he looked around the room, hoping to see a familiar face. The problem was that there were a lot of them. He half considered going over to visit with his parents, but then he’d be a third wheel. Letting out a small sigh, the rhino slowly headed towards the punch bowl.

He was just about to take a cup when he someone said, “I don’t think you want that punch.”

Danny’s ears flicked as he turned around, half tempted to tell the person off when he came face to chest with Officer Rhinowitz. The older rhino dressed up like a school teacher complete with a tweed vest chuckled down as the young boxer closed his open mouth. “Probably should have said that differently, but that’s the alcoholic punch. You’ll want the one next to it.”

Danny couldn’t stop himself from blushing. “Yeah. I don’t want to get Benny in trouble,” he said as he looked sheepishly at Officer Rhinowitz. He’d seen the other rhino around a few times, but he’d never paid attention to him; there were so many blue uniforms at the precinct that they all tended to blend in with one another.

“I don’t think your dad would appreciate it either,” Gary laughed. It was a warm, chuckling laugh that made his gut jiggle slightly. Slowly, he reached his hand out to the younger rhino. “Gary Rhinowitz,” he said with a smile. “I’ve seen you visiting your dad’s office a few times, but I don’t we’ve ever formally met.”

“Yeah. There are a lot of officers I haven’t met,” Danny said with a soft chuckle while giving him a firm handshake through the boxing glove he wore.

“Strong handshake you’ve got there, but then again, I’m not surprised. All us rhinos have quite the upper body strength,” Gary said, “But Bogo isn’t exactly a slouch in that department either. Not as strong as he used to be, but he TKO’d Bob during last year’s annual close combat training with his left hook.”

Danny tilted his head slightly. “Bob?”

“Oh! Sorry! Bob Trumpet,” The older rhino said with a chuckle. “He couldn’t make it tonight.”

“That stinks,” the younger rhino said as he slowly took a sip of punch. “Did he pull the short straw on days off? I know that happens sometimes,” Danny added as he tried to repress a few memories of McHorn calling to tell him that he couldn’t get the time off to spend any time with his son.

Gary chewed on his bottom lip before replying with, “No.” There was a small pause before he whispered, “We broke up.”

It took a moment for Danny to process the words. “Broke up?”

“Yeah,” the taller, older rhino said with a sigh. “I… haven’t told Benny and Dan about it.”

Danny nodded his head slowly. Keeping a secret from the portly cheetah was difficult at the best of times, and even though Benny’s house was a safe space, talking about breakups weren’t exactly easy. “I won’t tell,” the younger rhino said as he looked up at Gary, “But why’d you two break up?”

Gary let out a small sigh. “You mind if we sit down?”

Danny shook his head. His legs had started to ache a bit from all the walking. Even though they’d taken a few breaks in the car, there was a little bit of soreness in his muscles. “Sure.”

The larger, adult rhino smiled before turning around and leading his younger companion over to a surprisingly unoccupied couch. Plopping down, he patted the spot beside him.

Danny chuckled softly as he eased himself into the seat, head turned to look at Gary. “So… you were going to tell me…”

“Why people break up,” the teacher costumed male said with a small chuckle that melted into a sigh. Shrugging his shoulders, he looked over at Danny. “It’s… not always simple. Some people find out that they’re not compatible. Can take two dates or six months. I’ve had both happen.”

Gary paused for a moment, letting out a small chuckle to lighten the mood. “Most people your age break up because of college.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, my…” The older rhino paused as he tried to think, “third boyfriend and I broke up because he got accepted to his dream school which was out of state.”

Danny looked incredulous. “People really have dream schools?”

Gary chuckled. “Yeah. Some people have a college they really want to go to for one reason or another. But that’s not the point; I knew that I wasn’t going to convince him to come with me to ZU, so we decided to break up.”

“So it was mutual?”

“It was. John and I are still good friends,” Gary smiled. “We don’t… uhm…”

“Have sex with each other?” Danny said with his usual bluntness.

“Yes, but we’re still close,” the older rhino smiled only to mumble something under his breath. “But not every break up is mutual. Sometimes, you just grow apart and find that you want different things.”

“Is that what happened with you and Tom?”

“Yeah,” Gary let out a long sigh as he leaned back against the couch. “We wanted different things.”

“Like?” Part of Danny’s mind was telling him to not dig further, but his curiosity was egging him on.

“Well, some people want to get married and adopt some kids. Others… well… they don’t want to take that step,” Rhinowitz lifted his fingers up to make air quotes as he said, “It will ruin a good thing.”

The younger rhino nodded his head. “Kinda like friend zoning?”

Gary chuckled softly. “Yeah, kinda like friend zoning. I guess you could call it marriage zoning.”

Danny giggled slightly. “Marriage zoning. I’ll have to remember that.”

The older rhino started to laugh. “Me too.”

The two rhinos laughed together, heads shaking before letting a near simultaneous sigh. “You know, you’re growing up to be a handsome rhino, Danny.”

Danny felt his face immediately flush. “Uhm… thanks Mr. Rhinowitz.”

“Gary’s fine,” the older rhino replied with a smile. “I… know… what it’s like to… well… not have many people to talk to about being gay.”

Danny felt his ears twitch. “So you know,” he said in a whisper. “Did… McHorn tell you?”

Gary shook his head. “No. Benny told the group.”

“Group?”

“You didn’t think Benny is the only gay cop on the force, right?”

Danny blushed. “N-no.”

“We’re a tight knit group, and Benny was in tears when he told us,” the old rhino said as he put an arm around Danny’s shoulder and gave it a pat. “If you ever need someone to talk to, we’ll listen.”

Danny smiled widely. As open as his parents were, it was odd trying to talk to them about his preferences, especially when Bogo kept trying to give him "The Talk." 

"Thanks Gary. I really appreciate it." He said, taking a sip of punch. "You mind if I ask for some advice on something?"

"Shoot."

“There's this guy at school I like. And, I'm pretty sure he likes me back; we hang out all the time and he helped me keep up with school after...well." Danny gestured to his sling with a small huff, still reluctant to talk about the incident. "How do you ask a guy out without being weird?" Gary chuckled, swirling his own punch in its red solo cup.

"Honestly? My suggestion is to ask him out for pizza or something, outside of school. Keep it casual, low key. Offer to walk home with him and on the way, gently broach the subject. Ask if he'd like to go again sometime as more than just friends."

"And if he says no?"

"Then accept it, keep walking him home and say goodbye like normal. Feel free to give me or Benny a call. We'll get the group together and drown our sorrows in ice cream and rom-coms. If he says yes, call anyway and we'll celebrate with ice cream and Rom-coms!"

“Uhm… but aren’t you celebrating the same way no matter what happens?”

Gary shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, but I don’t really know anyone that turns down ice cream.”

Danny couldn’t help but let out a small giggle. “Yeah. I guess so. I mean… I’m not going to turn down free ice cream… but does it always have to be rom-coms?”

"Well, you can't very well drown your sorrows or celebrate something with a horror flick or an action movie, can you?"

"Rocky's I through IV would beg to differ." Danny grinned. "Nothing cheers me up after a bad day like a Rocky marathon."

"You have much to learn, young rhino." Gary grinned back. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the other members of the group. I see Roddy from Precinct 23 over by the kitchen."

Danny spent the rest of the night becoming acquainted with what would quickly become his friends among the force. He lost track of time in the haze of food, chatter and punch until Felicity and Bogo found him and told him it was time to head home.

"Did you have a good time at the party Danny?" Asked Felicity as they headed for the Bruinly.

"It was awesome! D'you think Ben will let me come again next year?"

Bogo fought down a laugh. It seemed Clawhauser wouldn't get to have his sexy costume parties back for a while.


End file.
